Two Cities, Two Tales
by dublindarling
Summary: Roy and Jade have an announcement, one that they can't keep to themselves any longer. Originally written for the Tumblr Christmas fic exchange.


It was just another chilly night in Gotham City. The wind was whipping, the owls were hooting, and all the little vigilantes were out roaming the rooftops, wrapped up tight in capes and Kevlar. Except for one, that is.

Artemis sat at her desk, textbooks towering over her frazzled blonde head. Her fingers weaved through her hair as she frantically turned pages, trying her hardest to cram for her endless midterms. She groaned and dropped her head onto a diagram of the intestinal system. Green Arrow didn't have to deal with school. Batman didn't have to deal with school. Why the hell did she have to?

The minutes ticked by. Try as she might, Artemis couldn't bring herself to lift her head. Instead, her eyes slowly drifted shut, fluttering open every few seconds. But eventually, they glued together so tightly that it was physically painful to even attempt to reopen them. So she stopped trying.

If we turn our attention from this lightly sleeping girl for just a moment, we might find something quite interesting up on the rooftop. Another girl, this one masked and much more awake, paced the concrete floor like a cat, ready to pounce. But perhaps this analogy is false, for the girl did not so much glide as stumble, nervously rubbing her arms. She kept glancing down, as though she could see the contents of the apartments below. If we could see through her rather ornate mask, her eyebrows would be bunched, her mouth grimaced. We would also see determination and resolve, for this girl, this woman, was strong in her own right. Her shoulders straightened as she breathed in deeply. She turned sharply and stalked to the side of the building, stepped on to the narrow ledge, and jumped.

And now we return to the room of one Artemis Crock. The only change in the few minutes that we have left her was the occasional quiet snore. Clearly asleep, Artemis didn't notice the light thump coming from the direction of her window, nor did she notice the flash of a white, grinning mask. However, she did notice the creak of the opening window and the clatter of a white, grinning mask falling to the ground.

"Whozat?" The desk chair fell to the ground and the textbook crackled as it was ripped from her cheek. Artemis stumbled forward, bleary eyed and battle stanced. But as the woman in front of her lifted her eyes, her own widened and her arms dropped. "Jade?" Well, she was definitely awake now.

"Hey, kid," A greeting that normally came with a smirk and a condescending salute now came with a sad smile and a light touch of the stomach. Artemis stumbled forward, her shin brushing off the arm rest of the fallen chair. She slid around the upturned furniture and reached a hesitant hand towards her sister. But she came to her senses quickly enough. She pulled her hand away and took a small step back, bumping the back of her knee into the chair. Her mouth thinned and her eyes hardened. Jade turned her head with a melancholic laugh. "What, not going to give your sister a welcome home hug?"

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm not here for a fight, if that's what you're thinking." Jade sighed and turned to what was once her bed, her gaze finding the now faded poster of Alice and the Cheshire cat. "Feels like a lifetime since we were kids, doesn't it?"

"Get to the point before I call for back-up," Artemis' eyes narrowed as she took a step towards her sister. "And you won't like my back-up."

"Look at you, trusting people," Jade laughed harshly, tearing her eyes from the poster and placing her hands on her hips. "But do they trust you?"

"It's been a year since I joined the team, Jade," Artemis snarled, crossing her arms. "They know who I am now. I trust them and they trust me."

"Yes, yes, you've got quite the life now, don't you, Artemis?" Jade huffed, waving a dismissive hand as she plopped on to the edge of her old bed. A puff of dust floated up around her, clouding the air. "Friends, mentors, I hear you even got yourself a goody-goody boyfriend. Flash Boy, is it?"

"Kid Flash," Artemis corrected automatically. "And that's none of your business."

"You're my little sister, of course it's my business." A tense silence followed. Artemis looked away from her sister, who had folded in on herself, head in her hands and elbows resting on her knees. The silence continued until it was broken by a watery sniff and a badly concealed sob. Artemis turned to her sister in shock, arms hanging limply at her sides.

"Jade?" Artemis asked, unwanted concern lacing her voice as she took a careful step forward. "Jade, are you okay?" The older girl shook her head, hair flying haphazardly. "Jade …" Artemis crossed her arms once again, though this was from a creeping sense of dread. "Why are you here?"

Jade looked up at her sister, eyes watery and panic-filled. "I'm pregnant, Artemis," she managed to force out hoarsely. "I'm pregnant."

And now we must zip away from this chilly Gotham night, for there is another party involved. Another party miles upon miles away, in a faraway land known as Star City.

Roy Harper lounged on the couch, holding a video game controller loosely in his large, calloused hands. He jabbed a few of the buttons half-heartedly, though it couldn't compare to the energy pulsating from the speedster next to him. Wally West was leaning forward rigidly, eyes narrowed and game controller whipping every which way as he slammed every digit available into the buttons.

They continued their game in silence (excluding some unintelligible grunts from Wally's direction) for what seemed like hours. At least, it did to Roy. But perhaps that was only because he had something on his mind, something he couldn't keep to himself any longer. And it was something he could only tell his friends. His best friends.

"Wally, I have to tell you something," he began, tossing his controller aside and rubbing a hand across his forehead agitatedly.

"Can it wait? I've almost got this -"

"I'm pregnant."

That most certainly stopped Wally in his speedy tracks. He slowly turned to Roy, a strange look crossing his face. "You - What?"

Horror crossed Roy's "That … That came out wrong."

"Okay," Wally drawled unusually slowly, placing his controller onto the cushion next to him. "Make it come out right.

"Right. Well, I got - I mean, I helped -"

Wally sighed and shook his head, turning his entire body to face his friend. "Just spit it out, dude. I won't judge." A contemplative pause accompanied by a relaxed shrug. "Much."

"Fine," he snarled back, his frustration manifesting as anger. "I got you girlfriend's evil sister pregnant. Happy?"

Shock colored Wally's face. "Ummm … congrats?"

Roy threw his head in his hands just as his apartment door creaked open, birthing a lithe boy dressed in red and black. He dragged himself through the room, ignoring the two boys on the couch as he headed towards the small guest room. A thump resonated as he dropped to the bed in exhaustion.

Eventually, after a good few moments of thought, Roy sighed in resignation. If he told one, he would have to tell the other. It's not like they would keep it from each other anyway. "Robin, get in here."

"No," came the short, muffled reply. "Too tired. Tell me in the morning."

"Roy's gonna be a dad!" Wally blurted suddenly before clapping his hands over his mouth. Roy's eyes widened and he whipped around to face the door to Robin's current residence. Silence greeted him.

Until:

"I'm going to pretend that was a joke. Deal with it in morning. G'night."

Roy slumped down, groaning. He needed new friends. Maybe even more than he needed a new girlfriend.


End file.
